14-Year-Old Boy Uses Loophole In Vermont’s Constitution To Run For Governor 😮

Through a little-known loophole in Vermont state law, a 14-year-old boy, Ethan Sonneborn, is running for governor—despite being too young to vote, or even drive!

And lest you think this is just some teenage prank, the kid—er, candidate—seems downright earnest…and maybe even full of some good ideas?

“I think Vermonters should take me seriously because I have practical progressive ideas, and I happen to be 14, not the other way around,” Sonneborn said in a recent forum broadcast on television. “I think that my message and my platform transcend age.”

“We need to have leadership that’s listening to Vermonters instead of having leadership that makes Vermonters listen,” he added.

No shade, but that’s way more astute than anything I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of an actual politician above legal drinking age. Get this kid a governorship!

Sonneborn said he was inspired by last year’s events in Charlottesville and by the political legacy of Robert F. Kennedy. His platform includes support for a carbon tax, an increase in minimum wage, and a worker’s bill of rights. He also backs Senator Bernie Sanders’s “Medicare-for-All” plan.

But is he qualified? According to state law, yes: he’s lived in the state for at least four years, which is Vermont’s only requirement.

Ethan isn’t the only unique and forward-looking candidate in the state’s race. There’s former utility executive Christine Hallquist who, if elected, will be the nation’s first transgender governor; as well as James Ehlers, an environmentalist, and dance festival organizer Brenda Siegel. What are Ethan’s chances? For his part, he thinks he’ll do better in the primary than people expect.

Many folks on social media were duly impressed by the young up-start:

While others thought it seemed perfectly appropriate for this moment in time:

And others were concerned:

Some threw sour grapes.

And of course, some were outraged, I tell you, OUTRAGED!

But as far as Ethan’s concerned, his race is a win-win situation, no matter the outcome.

“I think if I can get one person who wasn’t involved in the political process before involved now, then my campaign will have been a success,” he said.